AFo

rmal
istAp
pro
acht
oRo
ber
tFr
ost
’s
"
TheRo
adNo
tTake
n"

The r
ear emanyway st oanalyzet hep oet
ry,oneo ftheappro achis
usingthefo r
mal i
stthe or
y.Asd is cussedinAnI nt r
oduct
io nto
LiteraryStudies(
1999) ,t
hefo rmal istconcernedab outl
ite rar
y
structure;
us i
ngphone micd e
vi ceno tthephone t
i cconte
nt .Theref
ore,
usingthefo r
mal i
stthe or
ywi llhe lptoanalyzethee l
ement softhe
poemi no r
d e
rtolookitseffectint heme aningo ft hepoe
m.Thep oem
thatwi llbeanaly
zeus ingformal ismap pr
oac his“ TheroadNo t
Taken”p oemb yRobertFr o
st.

Thef ir
stlet
st akeal ookfromt hespe akero fthepoem.AsIs eethat
thes pe
aker“I”int hep o
e m“ TheRo adNo tTake n”,
isinthemi ddl
eo f
j
o urneysomewhe r einawo o
dands t
and sbetwe entwor oadsthathe
hadt ochoose
.Thee videntthats howt hesp eakerseethetwor oadsin
frontofhim, whe nhewr it
es“ tworo ad sdivergedinay e
llowwo od
.”
Thes peake
rhadt os tandandc hoosingwhi chi sro
adhehadt otake,so
thispoemi skindo faLy ricPo emwhi c hexp resst
hetho ught
s ,or
feeli
ngt ot
hep oet
.He ncetheto neoft hep oemc and i
rectlyse
et hat
thereisaconfus i
o nandhe sitationino rde
rt owhi chroadtoc hoose.
Itismake sther eaderne r
vewhe thert hesp eakerchoosether ig
ht
roadforhims elf.

Be
sid
es,
theo
the
rchar
act
eri
sti
csl
ikei
mag
ery
,sy
mbo
l,
overstatement ,s
o und,andthestanzaicstructurearegivename aning
tothep oem.Theus ingofimag e
ryinthispo e
mi smo r
ec o
nc ret
et han
abstractandmo stlyvisual
.Thei mageryinthep oemc anb eseeni n
thefirststanzaandt hesecondstanza.Theevidentiswhe nt he
speakerwr ites“twor oadsdiver
gedinay el
lowwo od”inli
ne1and
“Becaus eitwasg rassyandwant edwe ar”i
nl ine8.Thewo rdof
“yel
lowwo od”and“ itwasgras s
y”thoseares howt heverbalimag ery
forthep oem.I tshowst heconcreter
e pr
esentationoftheo bj
ectthat
describeinthep oem.

Af t
ert hat,
If oundt hat“TheRo adNo tTake n”iss y
mb ol izedthec hoice
inlife.Fort hef i
rststanza, t
her eade rjus tknowt hec ho icethatt he
speake rhadt omakei so nlyab outther oadc hoi
ce.Ho we verther eader
wi l
lkno wt hatt hecho i
cei sno tonlyab outt hesimp lec hoiceo fthe
roadint helas tstanza.Thes p eakerb el
ie vesthathi scho i
cewi llb e
affecttohisf uture.Itwi llmakead iffer enceinhi slifes ome how.
Therefo r
ethec hoic
eo fther o
ads ymb ol
iz edanyc hoicei nlifethat
affectsthefut ure.Inthisp oemt he reisr epetit
ionando ver s
tat e
me nt.
Ther epeti
tionc anb eseeni nthef ourths tanz aline18“ Twor oads
divergedinawo o
d”ando ve rs
t ate
me ntc anb eseeninl i
ne1 7
“Some whe reag esandag eshe nce.”Itme anst hespeake rwant sto
showho wt hec hoicecane ffectshisl if
ei nt hefuture.

RobertFr
ostals
ous esvari
ousofsoundi
nt hisp
oemi norde
rto
emphasiz
esomes ecti
onsofthepoe
m.Heus e
sallit
erati
on,
asso
nance,r
hyme ,
r hyt
hm.Theal l
ite
rati
onwhi chisthere
peat
e dof
cons
onantsoundscanb es
eeninthepoemwi t
htheus eof“r,
”“t
,”and
“s
”inallstanza.I
nthefir
s tandt
hirdstanzadominant
lyuse
al
lit
erati
on“ r
”and“t
,”i
nt heseco
ndandf ourt
hs t
anzause
al
lit
erati
on“ r
”and“s
.”Itmake stheso
undo fthepoe
mr o
ugh.

Thereisavar iousass onanc ewhi chist her ep

eatationo fvo wel
soundsint hepoem.The“ Ro adNo tTake n”p oe
mus easonanc esuc has
“u,
”and“ o.”Wec ans eeas s
o nance“ u”int hewo rds“two,”“ wo o
d ,”
“st
ood,”“l
o oked
,”“took,”i tme anst hatthes p
eakers eethet wor o adsi
n
thewo odandhes t
oodt ol ookwhi chisther o
adthathes ho uldc hoose
.
Nextisthe“ o”soundint hewo r
d s“sorry,”“not,
”“both,”“for,”
“morning,”“no,
”“ t
rodde n”i tme anst hatt hespeakere mp has iz
et hat
hecanno tc hoosebot
hr oad sandf inallyhec hooseo neoft her oadthat
perso
nr arelypassingthe r e
.

Inthep oe
mt he
rearetwoki ndso frhyme ,f e
mi ninerhymeand
mas culi
ner hyme.Thefemi niner hy mec anb es e
enifthefi
nal
syll
abelofar hymedwo rdisuns tr ess
ed.Themas cul
inerhy
mec anbe
seenifthefinalsyl
labelisstress ed.Howe verthispoemusesthe
mas culi
ner hyme,bec
aus ethef inals y
llab elinthepoemisstres
sed.
Thep oe
mc ons i
stsoffo
urs tanz aswi thf ivelineseachandtherhyme
schemeo fthispoemisABAAB- CDCCD- EFEEF- GHGGH.Fo r
examp l
e,takeal o
okatt hefirsts tanza:

Twor
oad
sdi
ver
gedi
nay
ell
owwo
od,
(A)

Ands
orr
yIc
oul
dno
ttr
ave
lbo
th(
B)
Andb
eonet
rave
ler
,lo
ngIs
too
d(A)

Andl
ooke
ddo
wno
neasf
arasIc
oul
d(A)

Towhe
rei
tbe
nti
ntheund
erg
rowt
h;(
B)

Fr o
mt heexamp leabo vewec ankno wt hisp oemhas9s yl
labeleach
lineandt her hythmo ft hep oe
mi sb asicallyiamb ic,whi c
hme ans
thatt hereiso neuns t
r es s
e dsyl
lablefo l
lowe dbyas tressedsyl
lab l
e.
Themo stcommo nuseo fiamb sinp oetryisinp e
nt ame ter
,whi ch
me anst hatthe rearef ive“ fe
et,
”oruni t
so fstres
se danduns tressed
syllables,i
nt hep oem.Butt hepoemo f“TheRo adNo tTaken”isi n
iamb ictetrame ter,whi c hme ansthatt her eareonl yfourfee
t( te
tra=
four).Be si
d e
st hereisal sotheotherki ndso frhythmt hatis
anap esti
c,whi c
hme anst hattherear etwouns t
res sedsyl
lables
foll
o wedb yas tresse
ds yllable
.Wes eethee xamp l
el ines:

Towhe
re|i
tbe
nt|i
ntheun|
der
gro
wth

Eachofthef ourfeetint hisli

nei siamb icexceptforthethird ,
becauseboth“in”and“ the”areuns tres
s edsyl
lables,maki ngthe
rhythmananap est.BesidesRo bertFros tuse
smo nos
y ll
ablelinein
thispoem, t
heyar eusefulandno twas tet hespaceinthep oem.Wes e
e
someo fthewo rdssuchas“ si
gh,”and“ ages”conveyhes i
tati
onab o
ut
thechooseo ft
her oad.The reisonec ae
s uraus e
dinf o
ur thstanzal ine
3,whichr eads,“
Twor oadsd i
vergedinawo od,andI─” .Thecae sura
functi
oni stoemp hasiso n“I.”Thes pe
ake r“I”showt hefeelingof
hesitati
on,unce
rtai
ntyaboutthecho
ice,
thenitwi
llre
lat
edtothe
nextline“Tookt
heonelesstrave
ledby
”itexp
laint
hatfi
nall
ythe
sp
e akermakehi sde
cisi
on.

Thes t
anzaicstruct
ureineve
rypo
emi simport
ant,be
causeitcan
helptorevealthefe
eli
ngandthep
laceofthepoe
m.Thel i
nesofthe
poemas sos
i at
edthero
adinthewood
.Thep oe
m’ sl
inesal
sorevealt
he
confusi
onfe el
ing.

Af t
eranal yzing“TheRo adNo tTake n”p oemb yRo b ertFr os twi tht he
formal istap proach, wec ans eethatt hef ormal istap p r
oac hc an
applieswe lltothep oem.So mee leme ntso fthep oemus eint hisp oem
suchasi mag ery,
sy mb ol,
tone, overstateme nt,sound s ,andal so
stanzaics tr ucture.The yareimp ort
antt og ettheme ani ngo fthep oem.
Theme ani ngo fthep oemr elatedt oourl i
fewhi chi ss ome time si nthe
lif
ewef ac es omec ho ic
ethatwehadt ocho ose.Int hi spo em, thei dea
isusingt henat ure(wo od)toe xplaint hatt herear etwor o ad sint he
wo od,oneo ft heroadi so f
tenp as sbyp ers
o nandt heo ther sr are lypass
byp e
rso n.Thes peake rinthee ndc hoo sether oadt hatr ar elyp as sby
person.I tisr elatedino urlife,some time sweal soc ho oset hec hoise
thatothe rp ersonr arelychoo s
e .Ho we verthec ho icet hatwec ho ose
cane ff
e ctthef utur e.Inconc l
us ion,thed ifferentway sc anr eve althe
me aningo ft hep oem, andthef o rmalistap proac hi soneo ft he
possiblec ho ice
.

Wo
rksc
ite
d
Kl
are
r,Mar
io.AnI
ntr
oduc
tio
ntoLi
ter
arySt
udi
es.Lo
ndo
n:
Ro
utl
edg
e.1
999.

TheRo
adNo
tTake
n

Twor
oad
sdi
ver
gedi
nay
ell
owwo
od,

Ands
orr
yIc
oul
dno
ttr
ave
lbo
th

Andb
eonet
rave
ler
,lo
ngIs
too
d

Andl
ooke
ddo
wno
neasf
arasIc
oul
d

Towhe
rei
tbe
nti
ntheund
erg
rowt
h;

The
nto
okt
heo
the
r,asj
ustasf
air
,

Andhavi
ngp
erhap
stheb
ett
erc
lai
m,

Be
caus
eitwasg
ras
syandwant
edwe
ar;

Tho
ughasf
ort
hatt
hep
ass
ingt
her
e

Hadwo
rnt
hemr
eal
lyab
outt
hes
ame
,

Andb
otht
hatmo
rni
nge
qual
lyl
ay

I
nle
ave
snos
tephadt
rod
denb
lac
k.

Oh,
Ike
ptt
hef
irs
tfo
rano
the
rday
!
Ye
tkno
wingho
wwayl
ead
sont
oway
,

Id
oub
tedi
fIs
houl
deve
rco
meb
ack.

Is
hal
lbet
ell
ingt
hiswi
thas
igh

So
mewhe
reag
esandag
eshe
nce
:

Twor
oad
sdi
ver
gedi
nawo
od,
andI
─

To
okt
heo
nel
esst
rave
ledb
y,

Andt
hathasmad
eal
lthed
iff
ere
nce
.